Month: February 2020

By Harrison Wall, PRTM Communications Intern

Ellerslie McCue is a senior Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management major with an emphasis in travel and tourism at Clemson University. She also runs her own leather business, Highway Sailor, where she makes hair-on cowhide, leather and tooled bags, totes, coozies and other products.

Ellerslie has a true passion for her business that can be seen through her entrepreneurial skills and current role as a student. Ellerslie answered a few questions for us about her inspiration to start the business and how her time management skills help her juggle being both a student and a small business owner.

What made you begin your business?

I created this business by the best kind of accident. I kept falling in love with beautiful tooled and cowhide bags I saw on Instagram, only to realize I couldn’t afford them. I finally decided if they could make them so could I. I set out to teach myself how to tool leather, construct patterns and sew with absolutely no background. I talked my dad into taking a little class to learn the basics of tooling, bought my tools, started hammering and have been making products ever since. My business Highway Sailor has continued to grow and expand as I dream up new things to make.

How are you able to balance running a business and your learning?

Running a business while being a full time student is a huge juggling act that I am still perfecting. I thrive on being busy and I love to work, so this lifestyle works for me, but it is not without its struggles. Time management plays a huge role in being able to do both.

I try to set aside days where I focus on just school and get all my assignments done for the upcoming weeks allowing me to focus on my business. This approach works well for weeks where the business needs to be a priority. Other weeks where I am swamped with school I let the business be on the back burner. A lot of it comes down to prioritizing what is important in the specific moment when it comes to school, the business, a social life, friends and sleep.

Are you applying any of your travel and tourism training to your business?

YES! For starters there is a lot of planning, understanding target markets, and consumer behavior that plays a large role in the success of a business, regardless of if the consumer is deciding where to travel or what to buy. We learn a lot about this in the tourism classes and it has given me a lot to think about and act upon when it comes to my business.

In addition, I attend a fair amount of shows to sell my products, which directly relates to the topics covered in the event management classes I have taken. As a travel and tourism major we are also required to take a business law class, which I think is helpful regardless if you have a business or not, but we are constantly learning about topics that I encounter daily in my business.

By Natalie Googer, Clemson University Junior and CEPA representative responsible for the career fair.

Taylor Stewart is a senior PRTM major at Clemson University, with a concentration of Travel and Tourism. She attended the career fair last year and the connections she made helped her get a job as a fitness instructor at The Cliffs.

How did the career fair help you find your summer job at The Cliffs?

I originally did some research on The Cliffs (just looking for potential jobs that I would consider applying for in the future) and I saw them at the career fair, so I just went to discuss the job opening I saw that I was interested in (event management). The representative from The Cliffs was the head of the Health and Wellness department, so that struck a conversation about how I was about to get certified in group fitness and he got me connected with the right people to follow up with about teaching classes with The Cliffs.

How do you feel your practicums and internships have/will prepare you for your future career?

This didn’t necessarily help me get an internship, but this job has given me a lot of experience in the field, which will help getting a job in the future.

How did you follow up with The Cliffs after the fair?

Ryan from the career fair sent my information to the wellness leader of the Keowee Springs location, who is now my boss.

Why do you think going to the career fair is important?

I think it gives good exposure to talk to professionals and learn how to carry on a professional conversation. It allows students to practice how to “market” themselves to potential employers.

What is your advice for someone going to the fair looking for a job or internship?

Do research about the business you’re interested in before hand, so that you have something to start a conversation. They will also be impressed that you did the prep-work, and it shows good leadership.

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The CEPA/PRTM Career/Internship and Camp Job Fair is on Monday, February 17 between 9:30AM and 1:00PM on the second floor of the Hendrix Center. Read more about the career fair, including which organizations are participating.

Emily Whitaker Poetz, a mother of three in Clemson, South Carolina, is among millions of parents dusting off their lawn chairs and preparing to enroll their children in sports programs in their community this spring.

About 71.8% of youth between the ages of 6 and 12 participated in youth sports programs in 2018. Poetz says she’s had only positive experiences with the programs in her area, which allow her kids to explore different athletic options.

“We don’t let even my sport-crazy kid specialize in just one sport,” she says. “Instead, we make sure he takes breaks so he isn’t playing something continuously all year.”

Poetz also looks for other ways for her children to channel their energy throughout the year, such as enrolling one of her sons in a private training program to teach him how to work out safely with the experts.

Although Poetz’s experiences have been largely positive, other parents may find themselves navigating other issues on the sidelines, such as dealing with overbearing parents or preventing sports overuse injuries.

Dr. Skye Arthur-Banning of Clemson University’s Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management department wrote a book to help parents navigate some of these challenges. Called Youth Sports in America: The Most Important Issues in Youth Sports Today, it provides an expert’s perspective on 37 different issues parents may face in a sporting environment.

Because some of the issues in the book fall outside his area of expertise, Arthur-Banning assembled a team of academics and practitioners throughout the country to write about specific topics. An M.D., for example, wrote a chapter on concussions. References are provided at the end of each chapter for further reading.

“The book was written for parents, coaches and administrators and tries to address questions each may have, such as the benefits of playing on an organized team, pay to play, and how to prevent or protect a child from being pressured into playing with an injury,” he says. “This is a guidebook that can help them whether they’re on the sidelines or volunteering as a parent-coach.”

Banning brings a unique perspective to these issues. He researches and teaches amateur sport by day, officiates soccer games on his evening and weekends, and watches his two young daughters play community athletics on weekday evenings.

His advice to parents with concerns about how team sports are being managed is to pay attention to what your child tells you about their experience, and to talk to your local parks and recreation department when issues start to feel out of control.

“Community recreation is there to help children explore healthy activity and encourage teamwork and cooperation,” he says. “Parks and recreation managers want to make sure that children are playing in a safe and supportive environment, so don’t be afraid to talk through concerns with them.”

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Grace Graves credits a career fair, and one of her Clemson professors, for helping her find her first job in the hotel and service industry. 

Grace graduated from Clemson University in 2017 as part of the first cohort with departmental honors for her major in parks, recreation and tourism management (PRTM). Although she had a job when she graduated, it was with an employer she almost didn’t connect with at a career fair organized by the department. 

“I had done all of my research on the companies I wanted to talk to before the career fair, but when I got there, I didn’t find anything I was super excited about,” she says. “I ran into one of my professors on the way out and told him I was feeling discouraged, and he encouraged me to talk to a hotel development and management company that had been added at the last minute.” 

Grace was a bit nervous to approach an organization she hadn’t researched in advance, but when she realized their representative was based near her home in downtown Spartanburg, they fell into easy conversation. Although they didn’t have any opportunities for her at the corporate office, the company was building a new hotel in downtown Spartanburg that needed people. She was encouraged to talk to the staff on site. 

“I wasn’t sure about approaching this organization at first because I didn’t know anything about hotels, but I did it anyway,” she says. “I’m so glad I did, because that conversation turned into a job that taught me so much – and that took me through the process of building a hotel from the ground up.” 

Grace started as an operations and sales intern. After her internship was complete, they hired her as their sales coordinator and soon promoted her to sales manager. The job gave her experience working with the area’s Convention and Visitors’ Bureau and Chamber of Commerce, and helped her apply her learning in several different PRTM areas of focus, such as tourism, events, sales, community relations and management. 

Although she’s since left the organization for a job in the higher education industry, she remains on good terms with her former employer and is interested in getting back into the service and hotel industry at some point. 

Grace says that career fairs are important, because they prepare students for real world interactions in a professional setting. She encourages students to talk to their professors both before and after the event, as they have valuable advice about how to make industry connections. She also says it’s important to ask for business cards and to contact the people you met after the event is over. 

Grace’s other career fair tips include: 

• Buy an “interview” outfit before the event that feels comfortable and professional. 
• Review the list of employers that are attending and highlight your top choices. Use a different color to highlight other organizations to talk to if you still have time. 
• Research each employer that you plan to speak with. Find three facts about the organization, and write three questions in advance. You can also brainstorm a short, relevant story about yourself that relates to the company or its goals. 
• Bring your printed resume and a notepad. You can also use your phone to take notes, but make sure you ask if they’re comfortable with you taking notes first. 
• Smile and have a firm handshake. Be confident and sell yourself. 
• Follow up with either a thank you note or quick email the same day, and make sure you refer to something that you spoke about so that they will remember your name and face. 

Above all, Grace says, it’s important to be open to ideas, experiences and opportunities. Career fairs give students opportunities that simply aren’t available after they graduate, and keeping an open mind can open doors to something unplanned, but rewarding. 

“Career fairs are a real, live in-person LinkedIn,” she says. “You’ll never get that many organizations in the same place again. The connections you make may not lead to something right away, but if you continue to take advantage of these opportunities, you’ll start to see doors start to open up for you over time.”

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The CEPA/PRTM Career/Internship and Camp Job Fair is on Monday, February 17 between 9:30AM and 1:00PM on the second floor of the Hendrix Center. Read more about the career fair, including which organizations are participating.  

By Harrison Wall, PRTM Communications Intern

Going to the CEPA/PRTM career fair on February 17? Here are some tips to help you get the most from the experience.

Research companies that interest you

Before the career fair, you should select companies that they are interested in speaking with and do a little research on that company. Great places to look would be the company’s website or LinkedIn. This will give you confidence and also show that you are interested in the company. This may also help to narrow down your search, because you may find a little more about the culture of the company and some of their key values.

Use resources provided by the university

Clemson University has some great resources to use to prepare for the career fair, like the Michelin Career Center. Here students can attend resume workshops and even mock interviews.

The elevator pitch is something that each student should practice before going. This is a quick 45 to 60 second introduction that states your name, major, graduation date, and some of your aspirations.

I recently competed in an elevator pitch competition where students present to employers the value they could offer to the company and then connect by asking for an interview or employment opportunities. When presenting to an employer, saying something you find interesting about the company is always beneficial and shows the company that you have interest. Next, do not be afraid to ask what opportunities that the business has in the future, but also know what exactly you are looking for.

Ask questions

Asking questions can be beneficial to you as well as show the company you are with that you came prepared. Some great questions to ask would be:

• What is your role in the business?
• What kind of education/experience do you need to get into this field?
• What do you think the most important skills are for success in this field?
• What’s your organization’s culture like?
• What makes your organization stand out amongst the competition?
• How can I help you meet your goals?
• Would you like to keep in touch?

For the day of the career fair, you should have up to date resumes and between 10 to 12 copies. Remember to dress for success and if you do not have professional attire there is now an on-campus Career Closet students should check out.

I know personally that career fairs can be stressful, but by being prepared, asking questions, and knowing future goals the career fair can lead to some great opportunities for internships or a career after college.

This year there will be around 40 employers at the career fair, which will be held on February 17, 2020 in Hendrix Student Center. For a more detailed timeline, visit the PRTM career fair website.

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Harrison Wall is currently enrolled at Clemson University as a Marketing major and a Communication Studies minor, graduating in December of 2020. He is a PRTM communications intern that assists with planning and generating content for social media.

When Ron Walker was first offered the job of National Park Service (NPS) Director in 1973, he turned it down.

A former chief advance man to President Nixon, Walker had traveled across the country and around the globe, making sure everything was in place before a presidential visit. He had no experience with national parks and wasn’t sure why he was offered the role.

He was told to sleep on it before making a final decision. As he talked the opportunity over with his family, he recalled his time in the military, which taught him that you don’t say “no” to the President of the United States.

He accepted the job the next morning.

Over the next two years, Walker guided the NPS through a tumultuous time that saw 14 new park areas added to its mandate, including the first two national preserves.

According to Phil Gaines, professor of practice at Clemson University and retired director of South Carolina’s state parks, Walker is a legend in the parks and conservation field for several reasons.

“Ron Walker is one of the best examples of leading under fire that you can find,” Gaines said. “He’s also known for identifying and then developing staff from throughout the NPS system that had the potential to become great leaders.”

The Ron Walker Leadership Development program at Clemson University is designed in a similar way. The program brings together new and emerging leaders from state and national parks to strengthen their critical-thinking and decision-making skills. Participants spend four days at Clemson University, working as a group to discuss challenging park management issues and how to use research to inform their decision-making process.

Clemson faculty at the Institute for Parks developed the program to build transformative and effective leaders that are ready to fill leadership roles that are becoming vacant at unprecedented rates in parks systems across the country due to an aging workforce.

The United States Office of Personnel Management’s strategic plan estimates that 30 percent of the federal workforce reached retirement age in 2018. The Department of the Interior (which houses the National Park Service) is planning for 33.6 percent of their staff to reach retirement age by 2023.

Many of those starting to look towards retirement are in leadership positions, creating a possible leadership vacuum for the National Park Service.

The leadership development program is intended to fill those gaps, says Bob Powell, director of the Institute for Parks.

“Parks are facing increasingly complex challenges, and up-and-coming leaders need a wide range of skills to develop sustainable solutions,” Powell said. “When a participant leaves this program, we want them to return to their host park ready to apply approaches they’ve learned to challenges they’re currently facing and prepare for issues they are likely to face in the future.”

The first group of park leaders completed the leadership development program in October and are already seeing an impact on how they approach key issues on the job.

Priscilla Geigis, deputy commissioner for conservation and resource stewardship at the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, says that the program discussions have helped her look at issues a different way.

“I now want to find opportunities to use technology more regularly to gather information to help make informed decisions,” Geigis said. “I also want to collaborate with universities to not only see issues with a different lens but to also back up decisions with credible research.”

Matt Whitlow, an Outdoor Recreation Planner with the National Park Service, said that he found the discussions with researchers and practitioners in the parks field beneficial.

“Being immersed in multiple days of conversations with researchers and practitioners representing multiple levels of government agencies and learning how research is being conducted in different parks and park settings was one of the greatest benefits of the program,” Whitlow said.

Since completing the program, Whitlow has been reviewing and interpreting the laws, regulations and policies associated with his core responsibilities to ensure the work he does is rooted in both fidelity to the law and serves the long-term public interest.

Planning is currently underway for the second class of park leaders, who will attend the program at Clemson University in October 2020.

Geigis says one of the most valuable lessons she took away from the week was the need for park leaders to navigate change in a way that ensures parks can stay relevant while maintaining the park system’s core values.

“Being part of a rich legacy of park professionals is an honor, privilege and responsibility,” Geigis said. “I was impressed to meet with key leaders in the profession and hear them share their stories and offer advice about both navigating challenges and recognizing and seizing opportunities.”

By Devin Orr, Study Abroad Intern

As college students, many of us are used to having to figure most things out on our own. That can make it a huge undertaking when you’re trying to find a study abroad program. Luckily though, there are many on-campus resources and people who are more than happy to help you in the search for a program that’s perfect for you! 

During my search, I didn’t actually utilize any of the resources available to me, and that made my experience so much more difficult than it had to be. I spent hours combing through the Clemson terradotta app (which is not the most user-friendly, mind you) and trying a million different search combinations to find a program that interested me when in reality, all I had to do was set up a meeting with my advisor and see what she recommended.

In my opinion, the best course of action to take if you’re interested in going abroad is to speak with your advisor! They have the latest scoop on all of the awesome opportunities that fit your major and your interests, so they are best suited to give you some guidance. Not only are they knowledgeable in all things your major, but they can also help you pick the best program for your remaining course list. This is the most important facet of the study abroad search! You want to make sure that you’re fulfilling your requirements while also choosing something that interests you, and this is where your advisor comes in. 

Some other useful resources on campus include Clemson Abroad, which holds Study Abroad 101 meetings throughout the year in which students learn all about what steps they need to take, what kind of stuff to bring, and a plethora of other important information. You can find all of these meetings on the Clemson University Calendar.

You can also wander around campus and find half a million flyers with potential study abroad opportunities. In fact, you can check out the AG Quad buildings and Hendrix to find flyers I made to advertise Sustainable Cities in Scandinavia, Clemson’s only faculty-led program in Sweden. 

Now let’s get into all the different varieties of study abroad opportunities! Being an out of state student myself, one of the best parts about Clemson’s study abroad programs is that you get in-state tuition when you go on a faculty-led study abroad to one of Clemson’s partner universities, which are located all over the world! When you decide on a faculty led program, you also avoid the hassle of having to find accommodation, organizing your own travel, and that of transferring credits. 

If none of the Clemson faculty directed programs interest you and you want to do a third party program, there are so many of those to choose from as well, and they have their own unique benefits. Although you will have to get credits approved by Clemson faculty and go through the credit transfer process, there are way more third party opportunities than Clemson faculty-directed programs, so you may be able to find one that fits you best. Depending on the program you choose, you will be more deeply immersed in the culture of the country you go to and have more options for courses.

Exchange programs are another awesome way to go abroad. I have had many friends come and go as exchange students throughout my time at Clemson, and I gotta say, they were some of the coolest people I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting! Basically, you just pay the amount of your current Clemson tuition, then you switch spots with a student at one of Clemson’s partner universities, and bam you’re in a new country at a new school studying! 

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Considering a study abroad opportunity this summer? Check out the Study Abroad Fair on Wednesday, February 7 from 10 am to 3 pm at the Hendrix Center.